Year 7 have enjoyed another busy week at Toot Hill, with some impressive work happening across a huge range of lessons. In Philosophy and Ethics, students have been studying the religions of the world this term, we have been so impressed with the quality of student books and so many of our Year 7s taking pride in their written work.
We have also had our first round of Parents Evening this week, it was fantastic to see so many students and their parents coming into school to discuss their progress so far. We look forward to seeing the parents of the H band next Thursday 24th November.
This week, we are also excited to have our first non-uniform day on Friday, to raise money for Children in Need. This year’s theme is ‘Spotacular’ and it was great to see so many students (and staff!) contributing to this theme with some wonderful polka dot attire! We will update you with the total amount raised next week!
As we continue our well-being theme of ‘Giving’, we are in the process of launching The Reverse Advent Calendar Challenge. Each tutor set (7.1-7.12) will put together a box of 24 items to gift to a local food bank, the donation is optional, but it is amazing so see so many students being so kind and keen to donate to such a brilliant cause to support local families. Some of the items urgently needed include: tinned food items, long life milk and toiletry items such as sanitary towels and toothpaste. More information to follow as we work towards the deadline of Monday 12th December.
We would also like to mention the upcoming Drama trip to Leicester to participate in drama workshops with the cast of The Wizard of Oz! It will be a fantastic opportunity, with students watching the performance in the afternoon. There are still a few spaces left for this trip, so please ask for a letter from the drama office if you are interested.
Finally- a HUGE good luck to the Swimming Team heading to London this weekend to swim at the London Olympic Pool in the National School Swimming finals. Kingsley will be representing Year 7 in the Year 7/8 medley and free relay. Good luck to all those participating.
Keep up the fantastic work Year 7!
Head of Year 7: Miss B Marshall
Assistant Head of Year 7: Miss H Barker
This week during tutor time Mr Mordue launched national Anti-Bullying Week via an assembly on Monday with the theme of reaching out. On Tuesday tutors went through credits and attendance, for Well-Being Wednesday we revisited some of the videos that covered bullying, Thursday we read In the Sea There Are Crocodiles and Friday was Fab celebrating all of the students’ weekly achievements.
Speaking of achievements, we would like to congratulate those students that entered the Better Book Covers competition organised by the Learning Lounge team. There were lots of students that received commendations on their entry who received credits. Ally and Mia were joint second and received credits, a sketch book and will be having Hot Chocolate with the Head next Friday. The overall winner was also in Year 8 so congratulations to Lucas who will have his book cover re-created as well as the credits, sketch book and HCWTH.
Good luck to the football teams who at time of writing both had away fixtures on Thursday evening, hopefully we'll get the results on Twitter.
Please could we remind students to bring a coat to school when it is raining!
Head of Year 8: Mr D Mordue
Assistant Head of Year 8: Miss L Jordan
Well done Year 9 for a positive week! We have got a lot of achievements to share in the year group this week and it has been great to have so many students who are being recognised for their hard work and attitude to learning. Students have been working hard in their creative option subjects and it has been good to see high engagement levels during practical tasks. In Fashion and Textiles students have been completing a piece of work on screen printing. This has involved students creating a stencil cut out, applying this to a screen and squeegeeing this onto paper. Our Level 1 Sports Leaders have also applied their leadership skills when delivering sports sessions to Year 8 groups. It is great to see the Sports Leaders confidently leading sessions and continuing to develop their leadership skills. (see photos).
During tutor set this week we have spent time focussing on the theme of ‘Anti Bullying Week’. Students listened to an assembly on teams on Monday morning and also focused on this theme during our wellbeing focus on Wednesday morning. We continue to focus on attendance, with students completing a task where they shared ideas from a range of scenarios. We had two Fab Friday celebrations this week, with the following students being recognised for their positive attitude to learning this week:
Positive Behaviour Points:
3rd Place – Charlotte 9.11 – 62 Positive Points
2nd Place – Amy 9.4 – 66 Positive Points
1st Place – Gabija 9.4 – 71 Positive Points
Home learning:
Attendance prize draw:
Well done to the following students who have achieved ‘Bronze Award’ for achieving 400 positive points this half term:
We have also had sporting success this week. Well done to the Year 9 students who represented the school at the Cross-Country fixture last weekend. Students have also been involved in a girls Handball tournament and our boys team look forward to their fixture next week too.
Finally, thank you to all students who donated £1 to support Children in Need on Friday.
Another great week, well done Year 9!
Head of Year 9: Miss I Sheldon
Assistant Head of Year 9: Miss A Lloyd
Year 10 have continued to impress with their maturity and knowledge during their Personal Development lessons this week; this half term's focus is 'Value of Life' and students have been learning about and reflecting on the issue of abortion. After learning the laws around abortion in the UK, students delved into the positions of Pro Life and Pro Choice and applied them to a range of scenarios and situations. The subsequent discussions with their tutors and the respectful sharing of and listening to different viewpoints of class members was extremely impressive.
Mrs Gray supported a group of Year 10 students this week with a collaborative arts and textiles project with St Peters Primary school. This involved our past St Peters students Abigail, Evie, Ruby and Gabriella and our Art Ambassador Niamh. The students were an absolute credit to the school and nurtured the creative talent of the younger students wonderfully.
Finally, in tutor time over the past fortnight, students have put together a home learning timetable to help organise their time out of school to complete work set by their teachers. Please support your child in having this completed and displayed to help them organise their time and workload. Almost all Year 10 students have now logged onto Class Charts; if you are having any issues with logging into Class Charts, please contact your child's tutor.
Head of Year 10: Mrs L Munro
Assistant Head of Year 10: Miss C Thomas
This week Year 11 have been busy returning to lessons following their exam period and have been focusing on careers in the Personal Development Curriculum. Alongside this we have been lucky enough to have some of our Year 11 students attend the Art trip to the Harley Gallery, arranged by Mrs Carter.
With time flying by, we have also launched the annual reverse advent calendar with all of our tutor sets! The food donated will go to the Trussel Trust Food Bank in Newark and The Nottingham Food Bank in the Meadows. We look forward to supporting this as a year group.
A reminder that Extended Study is back in full flow and that Toot Hill College is now open for applications. THC application page: https://www.toothillcollege.co.uk/apply.php
Head of Year 11: Miss L Hughes
Year 11 Achievement Leader: Mr R Wickens
DofE Stars of the Week
Huge congratulations to the following students who have already added all of their skill, physical and volunteering activities to eDofE! From the Year 9 Bronze Award well done Orla C, Owen D, Charlie D, Ellie E, Matt E, Maisy G, Grace G, Joseph G, Ellis L, Adam M, Evie M, Megan R, Rainbow T and Ava W. The Year 12 Gold Award is taking off and well done to Lillie B, Amber C, Phoebe L and Maisie P who have also added their activities. The girls are also busy finding their Gold residential activity and summer expeditions. This could be your child in Year 12!
Photos of the Week
There are plenty of volunteering, physical and skill activities going on this week! Here is Rainbow fencing and Emily's colourful baking!
Useful DofE Links
Click for Ideas for Skill, Physical & Volunteering Activities, DofE Activity Log and DofE Assessor Report
Dates for Your Diary
FAQ's – see www.toothillschool.co.uk/dofe
Mr Tinsley
mtinsley@toothillschool.co.uk
We received some fabulous entries to our recent Better Book Covers Competition. Students were asked to pick a favourite book and then re-imagine the cover, thinking about how the book could be made more appealing to browsers. A display of all the entries is in the Learning Lounge.
The winner and the runners up will be presented with a sketchbook and have hot chocolate with the Head! Everyone who submitted an entry will get credits.
The Learning Lounge is celebrating the start of the FIFA World Cup with the arrival of some brand-new football books and a bundle of brilliant football bookmarks will be arriving next week from the publisher of “Tales from the Pitch”.
Toot Hill School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT